Southern Red Anemone Festival 2022 | Familiar with this dilemma: “What can be done with the kids at the weekend? Or at all?” – So it’s, that this February timing is a great time to take advantage of the sun that will come out on Saturday, and the cloudy weather that will come to us in the coming days, to enjoy the South Red Festival.
The Southern Red Festival is being held for the 17th year during the month of February in the northern Negev. To get to the various flowering sites, there is no need to pay and you can come whenever you want. These are the flowering sites:
Shokeda Forest – Drive in the direction of Moshav Shokeda (near Netivot) and in front of the kibbutz gate there is an offense for every vehicle on the right. The road trained by the JNF leads to spectacular flowering carpets! On Fridays “Super Nature” the hero in omnipotent red arrives early in the dark and paints the flowers. Let’s find out the secret to how he does it and help him paint the southern landscapes red flowers.
Ruhama Benefits Reserve – Drive towards Kibbutz Ruhama, just before the kibbutz gate there is a left turn to the observation tower, go down the path and everything is blooming…
Khirbet Jamma – Opposite Kibbutz Ruhama on the other side of the road is a stunning grove with millions of anemones. After rain it is recommended to arrive with 4X4 vehicles only.
Barry Forest One of the symbols of the South Red Festival. The forest, which covers 11,000 dunams, is full of slopes laden with carpets of anemones. The forest’s interesting sites and holiday resorts contribute to the popularity of the forest. Near the Nahabir parking lot, the main parking lot in the forest, the JNF has prepared an accessible and shady path for people with disabilities that is 350 meters long. The Bari Forest is famous for its bicycle paths. Equipped with leaflets depicting the bike paths.The bike lanes reach the forest sites including bunkers from the days of the British Mandate built in preparation for a possible German army invasion in World War II, sulfur mines, the abandoned sulfur production plant and the old Barry security tower and water tower. It is also possible to get there by private car.
Dvira Forest – An impressive flowering site near Kibbutz Dvir. For those coming from the north, take Route 40 and turn left at the Dvira junction, immediately after Kibbutz Dvir there is a left turn to the Dvira forest. The bloom is on the hill up – it is recommended to go left in the first fork, right towards the regulated grove, go through it and in the fork at the end take a right with a path that goes up. When you see on your left the large water tanks continue straight and left again (circle the tanks) and then you will no longer be able to miss everything blooming around you. Instead of water fountains and picnic tables.
Reim parking lot and through the water facilities are located in the southern part of the Bari Forest. The road, which is 2.6 km long, connects to the main road in the Bari Forest and also exposes mostly anemone areas. – A pipeline laid by the British during World War I to transfer water from the Nile to their armies advancing in Sinai and the Negev on the way to the conquest of Israel. To another holiday car park. Here it is worth taking a short walking tour of the site where the remains of a town from the Byzantine period were discovered, which stretched over at least 300 dunams. One-eyed hikers will be able to spot in the center of the ruin fragments of marble and shingles that probably belonged to the settlement church. Remains of a rectangular water reservoir were found in the higher part of the hill. The remains of the houses that can be seen today in the area belong to the village of Mandur, which was probably founded in the late 19th century. About 100 m from the parking lot, on the side of the road facing west (near Nahal Gerar), are two water cisterns from the Byzantine period that resemble a sage pit but are much more prominent than the ground that covered them.
Access: Reim parking lot is located next to Sa’ad-Reim Road (Road 232), about 4 km south of Kibbutz Bari. Turn west from the road on a short dirt road that branches off from the road between the 39-38 km marks.
Chain Park – On the route of the Nahal Gerer chain link park park on the eastern side (adjacent to Tidhar) in the direction of Beit HaGadi near Or Haner – drive in the direction of Or Haner from Road 232 and before the kibbutz gate there is a left turn towards the kibbutz cemetery. Follow the path, passing the cemetery until you reach a fenced pasture with a spectacular bloom!
Sycamore Trail – Between Or Haner and Ivim Junction, take Route 232, which connects Givati Junction to Sha’ar Hanegev Junction. Drive in the direction of Kibbutz Or Haner, before the gate there is a right turn in the direction of the Gvaram Reserve and the Shikma Trail. Passengers with the trail west (left) pass through the forest until they reach a large, flowering field surrounded by a cattle fence.
Saad Junction – Jonathan Vermolen Observatory – Drive towards the new square of Sa’ad Junction and there turn towards Netivot, immediately on the right you will discover beautiful anemone clusters in the woods. There is a lookout point named after Jonathan Vermolen, a police sapper who was killed by an explosive device on the border fence. It is recommended to park in the woods and not to disturb traffic on the road.